A Citrus Hurricane

Grapefruit Granita- Raw

If you don't follow professional golf and weren't watching the televised tournament last weekend, then you probably missed the little hurricane wind episode we had here in the California desert. The golf tournament formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, now called the Humana Challenge was in full swing when hurricane force winds over 90 mph swept into town and blew over stands, leader boards, etc on the course and trees everywhere. It was so dangerous, they halted the play and called it a day. President Bill Clinton was here so you might have maybe heard something but probably not. With our mostly sunny climate, we get very little sympathy from the national news around here during the winters.

It was wild how the wind storm came out of nowhere and attacked us for the better part of the afternooon.  But during the winds our citrus trees were pelting out fruit to anyone that might get too close, kind of like the scene in the Wizard of Oz with the apple trees throwing apples at Dorothy and her crew except these trees had no visible arms. The fruit just came a flying!

The next morning it was completely still, the course was miraculously cleaned up and the golf tournament continued and looked like nothing happened but the rest of us where left with the aftermath of massive debris everywhere.

Eucalyptus trees were the biggest casualties, as they are just too bulky for the high winds around here.
This is our neighbor's unit as one of the golf course trees came colliding with their unit across the cart path and fence.

Trees out of the ground, roots and all.  See how "foggy" the sky is? Thats' sand!

The best little surprise out of the whole ordeal were scenes just like this one...

Citrus Fruit Everywhere!

Grapefruit both regular and pink, Tangelos, Meyer Lemons, Regular Lemons

It was all so exciting to get so much fruit but then we realized we only have so much time to eat it all! I'm a little acid sensitive so I can't do too much at once but Rich just loves "eating off the trees" as he calls it. This year they hacked up our beautiful Minneola Tangerine tree, the one I wrote about as giving off the juicy "Tangelo Bombs" last year. There are hardly any branches left to bear fruit. (That really irks me as it was totally unnecessary and we look forward all year to these delicious fruit!) Hopefully next year!

So in honor of all the fruit we have at our... table, I'm going to be exploring some citrus options for the next few posts, hope you don't mind. It's just that time of year.

First Up.... 

Grapefruit Granita- Raw

This is so simple and yet so refreshing. 

2 cups fresh grapefruit juice, strained

1/4 cup filtered water

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/4 cup lemon juice, strained

Blend together agave and water in a blender until well combined 

(room temperature water makes this easier)

Then add in the grapefruit and lemon juices and blend again. 

Pour into a non-reactive pan, I used a 8x8 baking pan.

 And freeze. 

Check every hour and scrape back the frozen top with a fork or back of spoon. 

3 times should be enough. 

It should take about 6 hrs but can be left for 3 days if you like.

Serve in a chilled glass with sprig of mint for garnish 

and eat right away!

Alternatively, you can let freeze solid and when ready

 break into chunks and pulse in food processor to get ice crystal shavings.

Add Some Booze!

For those non raw peeps reading this, 

you can add in a little vodka too- about 2 tbsp

 (this will keep it from freezing solid, among other things.)

Another option to dress this up is place in a chilled glass and 

pour your favorite champagne over for

 a specialty drink style bubbly slushie.

That's it for now!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready for a great week ahead!